Venezuelan and western equine encephalitis viruses (VEEV and WEEV; and imaging.

Venezuelan and western equine encephalitis viruses (VEEV and WEEV; and imaging. enter the CNS by hematogenous seeding of the CVOs followed by centripetal spread along the neuronal axis. IMPORTANCE VEEV and WEEV are mosquito-borne viruses causing sporadic epidemics in the Americas. Both viruses are associated with CNS disease in horses humans and mouse infection models. In this study we injected VEEV or WEEV engineered to express bioluminescent or fluorescent reporters (fLUC and DsRed respectively) into the footpads of outbred CD-1 mice to simulate transmission by a mosquito. Reporter expression serves as detectable bioluminescent and fluorescent markers of VEEV and WEEV replication and infection. Bioluminescence imaging histological examination and confocal fluorescence microscopy were used to identify early entry sites of these alphaviruses in the CNS. We observed that specific areas of the brain (circumventricular organs [CVOs]) consistently showed the earliest signs of infection with VEEV and WEEV. Histological examination supported VEEV and WEEV entering the brain of mice at specific sites where the blood-brain barrier is naturally absent. INTRODUCTION Eastern Venezuelan and western equine encephalitis viruses (EEEV VEEV and WEEV; bioluminescent (BLM) imaging. We also used epifluorescence and confocal microscopy to precisely map sites of virus replication in mice using WEEV.McM expressing DsRed. Recombinant double-subgenomic WEEV.McM or VEEV.3908 (subtype IC) expressing fLUC (13) and WEEV.McM expressing DsRed (Fig. 1A) were used in this study. At the time of our study we did not have an EEEV expressing a marker of infection; however mice were peripherally injected with a nonrecombinant EEEV (FL93-939) to identify sites of virus entry by immunohistochemical (IHC) approaches. We compared our and BLM imaging studies with histological analyses of tissues to determine CNS entry points and the route of dissemination of VEEV and WEEV in the brain. Peripheral infection with each virus demonstrated a consistent spatiotemporal distribution of virus in the imaged brains. VEEV and WEEV entry occurred in areas of the CNS where the blood-brain barrier (BBB) was naturally absent. These areas included the hypothalamus and anterioventral third ventricle (AV3V) region area postrema and the pineal body. Virus subsequently disseminated via centripetal spread along neural pathways to other areas of the brain. These observations are consistent with a model of hematogenous seeding of virus from CI-1011 sites of peripheral infection and highlight previously unreported areas within the CNS which we hypothesize are vulnerable to infection during viremia. These findings are important for understanding the pathogenesis of alphavirus encephalitides and should lead to a CI-1011 better understanding of the reported neurological sequelae among survivors of alphavirus-induced CNS disease. FIG 1 Recombinant alphaviruses used throughout these studies. (A) Schematic diagram illustrating the layout of the genome for each recombinant virus used in CI-1011 these studies. SPG subgenomic promoter; UTR untranslated region. (B and C) Survival of mice infected … MATERIALS AND METHODS Viruses. A full-length infectious clone of the WEEV.McM was derived from a virus isolate obtained from the Arbovirus Reference Collection at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins CO and has been previously described (6). Passage history for virus strains used has been previously published (13 14 Detailed descriptions of the molecular cloning CI-1011 methods used to construct recombinant WEEV.McM reporter viruses are provided below and have been previously published (7). In brief we duplicated a second subgenomic promoter (SGP) sequence (nucleotides 7341 to 7500 of the viral genome) immediately 5′ of the existing SGP or immediately 3′ of the nsP4 coding region. The 5′dsWEEV.McM with fLUC inserted Mouse monoclonal to CD14.4AW4 reacts with CD14, a 53-55 kDa molecule. CD14 is a human high affinity cell-surface receptor for complexes of lipopolysaccharide (LPS-endotoxin) and serum LPS-binding protein (LPB). CD14 antigen has a strong presence on the surface of monocytes/macrophages, is weakly expressed on granulocytes, but not expressed by myeloid progenitor cells. CD14 functions as a receptor for endotoxin; when the monocytes become activated they release cytokines such as TNF, and up-regulate cell surface molecules including adhesion molecules.This clone is cross reactive with non-human primate. 5′ of the 2nd SGP is termed McFire virus in this report. The 3′dsWEEV.McM designed to express DsRed is referred to as McRed virus for the remainder of this report. VEEV.3908 (13) engineered to express fLUC is designated VEEV.3908-fLUC and was designed with the 2nd SGP positioned 5′ to the structural genes. The VEEV.3908-fLUC.